Things That Really Matter
by YankeeFan87
Summary: This is a tag to the season 2 premiere, "The Man Who Saved Central City." The tags take place immediately following Flash Day and then after Barry's first fight with the Atom Smasher. Spoilers up to season 2.


A/N: Another tag from me. I swear I'm going to write an original story one of these days. Anyway, hope you enjoy these added scenes. Thanks for reading and please review!

* * *

"Well that didn't go according to plan," Cisco remarked, emerging from his temporary shelter behind Joe's squad car.

"I thought you said you wouldn't have me caught out in the streets with my pants down," Joe said dryly, angling his head towards the scientist.

"Sorry?" Cisco offered. "What was that thing anyway? I can't believe the Boot didn't work."

"I don't know, but – ahhh – I'm going to stop him," Barry ground out, wincing in pain as he grasped at the hunk of metal still protruding from his leg. He pushed himself up, putting most of his weight through his right leg.

Joe studied him, only now seeing the injury. "Barry! Sit down before you fall down."

"I'm fine, Joe. It's just a flesh wound. I'll just pull this out and then my leg will be good as new." He grasped the piece of metal, giving it a strong pull. "Ah! Or maybe not," Barry groaned when the metal didn't budge. He took a stumbling step backwards, Joe's arms the only things keeping him from falling.

"Easy there, Bar," Joe said, lowering him to the ground. "Cisco, you got anything in your bag of gadgets to help us get this out?"

"Joe, you need to go. I'll be fine. No one can see you with me or you'll be in danger." Barry shifted his weight, trying to escape the pain. "Cisco too."

"So what, you're going to superspeed away with a hunk of shrapnel impaled in your leg? You need to take care of yourself too, kid. You can't save anyone if you're dead."

Barry wanted to argue, but Joe was right. He was in no condition to speed away and the longer the metal stayed in his leg, the greater the chance that his body would heal around it. And he didn't want to think about what they would have to do then. "Okay," he relented. "But do it quickly. Who knows when Al Rothstein – or whoever he is – will be back."

Joe nodded in agreement. "Cisco, what do you have?"

Cisco returned with a handful of objects. "I think the pliers are your best bet," he said, handing the tool to Joe. "So what are you going to do? Just yank it out? Isn't that going to hurt, like, a lot?"

Barry grimaced, groaning in anticipation.

Joe shot Cisco a look of disbelief. "That's the plan. You got a better idea?"

Cisco shrugged. "Caitlin was always the one to fix Barry up. She had...she always knew what to do." Joe softened his expression and nodded, deciding against stating the obvious, that Caitlin was no longer a part of Team Flash. Or, more accurately, that Team Flash no longer existed.

"You ready, Bar?"

"Gahh, just do it Joe," Barry whispered, his right hand clawing at the pavement, looking for something to grasp onto. He squirmed on the ground, trying to escape the pain.

"Cisco, can you hold him still?" Joe asked quietly, knowing this would not be pleasant for any of them.

Cisco nodded. "Sorry, Barry," he apologized as he grabbed onto his friend's shoulders, holding him firmly.

Joe fixed the pliers around the piece of metal, making sure he had a firm hold. "Okay, on three. One, two, three!" He pulled as hard as he could, freeing the metal from Barry's leg and tumbling back against the squad car. Barry let out a loud yell of anguish and promptly passed out.

"Barry!" Cisco tapped his friend's face, trying to get a response and Joe came up beside him, placing his jacket over the wound that was now gushing blood.

"Cisco, I need some help here," Joe insisted, getting the younger man's attention. "We need to stop the bleeding. I'm guessing you don't carry around a needle and thread in that bag of yours?"

Cisco shook his head, pausing. "No, but I do have a soldering iron," he said reluctantly.

Joe winced. "That'll work. Just get it quickly, before he wakes up."

Cisco nodded, running back to the car and returning almost instantly with the tool. He handed it to Joe, returning to his perch by Barry's head. "Hold him, Cisco."

Barry screamed the second the hot iron touched his skin and, much to Joe's chagrin, did not pass out again. Joe made quick work of the wound, closing it up and tossing the iron to the side. Barry was still panting in pain, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "It's okay, Barry, it's over," Joe insisted, grasping his foster son's hand and giving it a brief squeeze. He was surprise by the strong one Barry returned. "You okay, son?"

Barry nodded after a few moments, opening his eyes once the pain had died down. "That was rough. Wouldn't it have just healed on its own?"

Joe shrugged. "I wasn't sure and you were losing too much blood."

Barry nodded in understanding. "God, I miss Caitlin," he said jokingly, but the reality of those words couldn't be denied.

"Me too," Cisco whispered, deciding his old friend would get a visit from him soon. They needed her back. And she needed them too, even if she wouldn't admit it.

Barry stood up with Joe's help, testing his leg. "It's better now. Thanks, guys."

"So what, you're just leaving?" Cisco asked. He had allowed himself to hope, for one second, that Barry would change his mind, would realize he needed them again.

"I have to, Cisco. This is my fight. I can't put you guys at risk any longer." And with that, he was off.

* * *

The first time he was slammed against the wall felt like a ton of bricks crashing down on him, the second like a collision with an 18-wheeler. After the third hit, Barry was certain he had fractured his skull.

"He said you were some kind of big hero," the Atom Smasher ground out, tightening his impossibly large hand around Barry's throat, "but you don't seem worthy of him or this city." Barry gasped for breath as the metahuman pulled back his large, meaty hand, ready to land one final blow. He knew there was no getting out of it this time; the team had no idea what was going on, how much trouble he was in. But this was for the best anyway. Better he die than his friends.

Barry braced himself for the final blow but it never came. Instead a piercing high-pitched alarm sounded throughout the warehouse, drawing the metahuman's attention away from the Flash for only a millisecond. But for the fastest man alive, it might have been an hour. Barry quickly used his super speed to slip from the Atom Smasher's tight grasp, running back to Star Labs as fast as he could manage, trying to ignore the blinding pain in his head.

He faltered once he reached the lab's hallway, stumbling as the pounding in his head encompassed him. He couldn't think, could hardly move. The world tilted on its axis and Barry took a few halting steps forward before finally losing consciousness, the ground rushing up to meet him.

* * *

"Professor Stein, _you_ are a genius," Cisco remarked, watching as Barry sped from the building, alive.

"I believe that's already been well established," Stein replied as the rest of the lab celebrated their momentary victory.

There were only a few seconds between the time they watched Barry escape from the warehouse and when the alarm sounded in Star labs, indicating Barry had returned. Iris jumped up and headed to the hallway to check on her friend, knowing that if he was even half as bad as he appeared on the surveillance cameras, he was going to need some help. She hadn't expected to find him unconscious on the floor, and she heard herself gasp at the sight of her best friend collapsed on the ground. "Guys, I need help!" she shouted back down the hallway. She reached Barry's side, rolling him onto his back and removing the suit from his head.

He was pale underneath the mask, with bruises already forming from where he'd been slammed against the wall. More troubling, though, was the harsh wheezing Iris could hear with each inhale, a soft whistle that reminded her of the asthma Barry used to suffer from as a child. Red marks in the shape of fingers dotted Barry's neck, no doubt caused by the pressure of the Atom Smasher's grip as he tried to choke the life out of the hero.

"How is he?" Joe asked, running up beside her, followed closely by Cisco and Dr. Stein.

"He's having trouble breathing," Iris answered. "I'm worried the Atom Smasher might have crushed his windpipe." She heard her dad curse softly.

"Okay, let's get him to the lab," he responded, kneeling down and lifting Barry deftly into his arms. "Dr. Stein, you probably know the most about medicine here, we're going to need your expertise."

"I'm a doctor of philosophy, not a doctor of medicine," Stein began to protest. "But I'll do what I can," he added, seeing the desperate looks on his friends' faces. "We really could use Dr. Snow right now."

"You're telling me," Cisco murmured.

They got Barry to the lab and Dr. Stein performed a thorough examination, noting two fractured ribs on Barry's left side along with what he hoped was only a bruised trachea. Barry's breathing had already improved in the time since they'd gotten him on the stretcher, and Dr. Stein was optimistic he would continue to improve.

"We should call Caitlin," Iris whispered while she tended to the cuts on Barry's face. "You saw her at Flash Day, Cisco. Maybe she's ready to come back."

"I'm working on it," he agreed.

"Alright kids, time to go," Joe announced, coming over to the stretcher.

"But," Iris started.

"No buts, Iris. Do you think Barry will want you all here when he wakes up?"

Iris shook her head, knowing her dad was right. "You'll call, though? When he wakes up?"

Joe nodded. "I will call," he promised, kissing her on the forehead. "Now don't you have a day job you need to attend to? You too, Cisco. Go see if Singh needs any help back at the precinct."

Cisco nodded, following Iris out of the lab. "And I'm going to go see Clarissa," Stein announced, picking up his coat.

"Thank you, doctor," Joe said, "for everything."

"Happy to help, Detective."

Joe watched the three leave, then pulled a chair up beside Barry's bed. He picked up the gloves from Barry's suit, running his hands over the edges. "You take your time, Son," he said aloud, studying the cuts and bruises on Barry's face. "I'll be here."

* * *

Joe watched as Barry came-to, ready to calm the younger man down when he flinched, the memories flooding back to him.

"Hey! You're good, I gotcha."

Barry relaxed when he recognized Joe's face. He scanned the room again, still trying to piece everything together. The last thing he remembered was the blinding headache and then being choked to death by the very large, impossibly strong man.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, expecting to see Iris and Cisco waiting for him to wake up.

Joe shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't want an audience when you came-to."

Barry sighed, leaning his head back against the pillows. "Yeah, thanks."

Joe paused, taking a breath. He'd been thinking about what he'd say to Barry when he woke up, how he would get it through his son's head that this couldn't go on any longer. "Iris is right," he started, "you're not gonna do this anymore." Barry looked at him questioningly but stayed silent. "For the last six months I've given you your space to work all this out and come back to us. But today proved that you'd rather just get yourself killed."

"It's better than getting my friends killed," Barry answered, averting his eyes from Joe's.

"You want me to tell you that it wasn't your fault? I can't, it was. Guess what, you weren't the only one making decisions that day. All the rest of us were there too. Eddie, and Ronnie. They chose to help you stop Wells and stop that – " he waved his hand, trying to think of the word.

"Singularity," Barry filled in.

"Singularity thing. It's on _all_ of us, Barry. So stop with this hogging all the blame and regret. We gotta live with it, move on."

Barry didn't turn his head to look at Joe, feeling as the tear track down the side of his face. " _It's a good move, being angry all the time…the tougher thing to do would be to let yourself feel_." In the six months since the Singularity had destroyed their team, had killed his friends, Barry had tried to avoid thinking or feeling much of anything. He'd thrown himself into saving other people because it left very little time for him to think about those he'd let down. " _It's okay to be sad. You can_ be _sad, Barry. That is why I'm here."_

"What do I do now?" he asked quietly.

Joe took a deep breath, for the first time in months feeling like he'd gotten through. "Well I know that you've been rebuilding Central City at night," he responded, a bit of humor in his voice. Barry let himself smile for a brief moment, turning to look at Joe. He put his hands over his face, wiping away the remnants of tears. "It's just bricks and paint," Joe continued. "Maybe you should start trying to rebuild," he paused, "things that really matter."

Barry nodded, thinking back to his team – his friends – and all the good they had once done for this city, _together_. It was clear he needed their help just as much as they needed his. "Okay," he whispered, nodding. "Okay."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Like I said, I plan to write an original fic soon. I already have some ideas I'm working on. Please review, it would make my day! Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US!**


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